


Caught in Hot Water

by Celyan



Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Broken Heat, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Q Just Needs to Get Warm, Romance, Then Bond Happens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:42:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21709933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celyan/pseuds/Celyan
Summary: Q has never dealt well with cold. Cold makes him shiver, and shivering makes him annoyed as well as robs him of his concentration, which he dearly needs while he’s at work and among all the delicate projects that they have at Q Branch. (Not to mention when he’s guiding an agent through a mission.)Therefore, layers are Q’s thing. And cardigans, an inseparable part of his attire by now, are an excellent way to layer up, that he has learnt over the years.Too bad it’s not really working at the moment.
Relationships: James Bond/Q
Comments: 3
Kudos: 220
Collections: Mi6 Cafe Prompt Fills





	Caught in Hot Water

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the following prompt from the anonymous prompt list, for MI6 Cafe’s December challenge: 
> 
> _the heat is broken at six. q is so cold that the only solution is to sneak into the agents' locker room and use the jacuzzi. except... well we can guess which agent always lingers long after hours. naughty naughty. james finds q naked and sipping tea and climbs right in. what could go wrong?_
> 
> Thank you to Souffle and Christine for beta reading and the encouragement.

Q has never dealt well with cold. Cold makes him shiver, and shivering makes him annoyed as well as robs him of his concentration, which he dearly needs while he’s at work and among all the delicate projects that they have at Q Branch. (Not to mention when he’s guiding an agent through a mission.)

Therefore, layers are Q’s thing. And cardigans, an inseparable part of his attire by now, are an excellent way to layer up, that he has learnt over the years.

Too bad it’s not really working at the moment. 

It’s getting late, and Q Branch is practically empty. Q’s working on a special project of his (which is _not_ an exploding pen, no matter how much a certain menace of a double oh agent keeps pestering him about it) because he’s been too busy to focus on it lately, and he’s got the weekend off so if he wasn’t here now he’d need to wait until at least the middle of next week to continue with it, and he’s feeling inspired _right now_ , thank you very much. 

So he works steadily on and, to the best of his ability, ignores the way it gets colder and colder as the clock ticks on. He times his work perfectly between mugs of hot tea and uses those breaks to move between locations inside the branch - he needs the labs for testing the radius of the explosion - and realises only after his seventh mug of tea just how late and how cold it has become.

Q blinks and puts the Scrabble mug - still half full of lukewarm tea; he could swear that his tea is getting colder sooner and sooner after each mug he finishes - down on his desk and glances at the clock. It’s long past midnight, which is nothing unusual; what _is_ unusual, however, is that he can practically see the clouds forming every time he breathes out. Q shivers and wraps his arms around himself, rubbing at his upper arms to no avail. 

He leaves his office and steps into the branch proper. Much to his puzzlement, it feels just as cold if not colder than in his office, and Q surmises that something must have happened to the heat. Of course, there’s no way that he’d get anyone over to fix it, what with it being so late and all, so he’s now faced with a dilemma: he can either give up, leave Six and go home to his cats, or he can stay and bear the coldness and the shivering while he finishes his work.

Or… technically he _could_ , if he really wanted to, sneak into the double oh agents’ locker room and use the jacuzzi there to warm up. 

Q knows that he should just forget all about such silly ideas. He’s a grown man, a bit of shivering, while annoying, is hardly anything he can’t survive. But it’s late, and Q’s feeling reckless; and to his knowledge he’s one of the only - if not _the_ only - people still at Six. 

Q makes up his mind and heads for his office for a final check up of the premises. After all, the last thing he needs is someone else being around when he’s doing something like this. (And Q never does things like this. He doesn’t. Except, apparently, when it’s too cold for him to function properly.) 

He makes sure that no one is at or anywhere near the locker room - especially not Bond, because he’d rather not see 007 while he’s naked and thus even more vulnerable than usual - and afterwards he stops by the kitchen to get some more tea. (He leaves the Scrabble mug with its now cold contents emptied in the kitchen sink, though.) This time he chooses his travel mug to house his beloved Earl Grey, as it’s easier to carry it with him upstairs. It’s also better to keep his tea hot for a longer amount of time, which is always a good thing.

Q takes himself and his travel mug to the lifts, trying his best to stop the shivering. He thinks longingly of the combination of the hot water and the hot tea, and waits for the lift doors to open again. 

By the time Q finally reaches the locker rooms, his shivering has gotten almost out of control. He wonders briefly if the temperatures are already down to below zero, or at least close to it, then hurries inside, eager to shed his clothes and get some proper warmth. 

Perhaps he ought to have looked around a little bit closer, but he is cold and miserable and wants to get warm so he can finish working and finally go home… so he cannot be blamed, really. 

Q sets the water temperature hot enough to warm himself properly and turns on the water to fill the jacuzzi. Meanwhile, he realises that he has forgotten his towel, so he does a bit of investigating to find an unused towel - he really doesn’t want to use a towel one of the agents has already been using, but luckily Six is well stocked and there are stacks of clean towels easily found within a close distance. 

Q returns to the jacuzzi perfectly on time to turn off the water. He undresses quickly, leaving his clothing nearby in a neat pile, places his travel mug in reach next to the side of the jacuzzi, and then, finally, slips into the water. 

The warmth is instantaneous, and Q may or may not have groaned a little at the feeling of it on his chilled skin. He sinks in down to his neck and leans his back against the side of the tub, and then turns on the pump to start the whirlpool jets. Then, he takes a sip of his tea, puts it down again, and closes his eyes to enjoy the warmth. 

”Hello, Q.” 

Q flinches almost violently, and his eyes fly open at that smooth, familiar voice. 

”007?! What in the bloody hell?!”

Bond chuckles. ”Is that a way to greet a coworker, now?” 

”What are you doing here?!” 

”I noticed that it has gotten quite cold around here, and I thought to do something to get warmer. I see that you had the same idea,” Bond explains, even as he casually starts to remove his clothing, right under Q’s horrified (if secretly fascinated) eyes. 

”Bond! What are you- Do not even think about getting any ideas!” Q warns Bond, but naturally his words make absolutely no difference to Bond, who keeps on removing his clothes until he is just as naked as Q is. The only difference is that his clothing is in a heap on the floor, which surprises Q a little, as usually Bond is very meticulous with his suits. (Not that he knows it for sure, except that he does, but it’s not like he’s been spying on Bond or anything, he’s just… paid attention when he’s been Bond’s handler on missions, that’s all.) 

The jacuzzi is by no means large, but it is made to fit two to three people. So theoretically, there should be more than enough space for Bond and Q to share it and keep their distance. But clearly, that is not what Bond has in mind at all. No, he gets into the tub in all his naked glory - Q does his best to avert his eyes - and plops himself down right next to Q, fully ignoring Q’s half-formed protests and the way he keeps trying to move away from him. 

”Bond! Do the words ’personal space’ mean nothing to you?” 

Instead of answering, Bond leans right over Q - squishing him against the side of the tub in the process - and gets a hold of his travel mug. 

”I see you’ve come prepared,” Bond quips, and without further ado, takes a sip of Q’s tea. ”I take it back,” he then says and offers the mug to Q. ”You’ve come only half prepared.” 

Q accepts his tea from Bond and blinks. ”Because it’s only tea?” he guesses. 

Bond nods. ”One would have thought that you could have used a splash of whisky in your tea to warm you up.” 

”Not at work, though,” Q points out quite sensibly, but Bond simply scoffs. 

”It’s way past midnight, and everyone else is long gone. Nobody would find out.” 

”You’re still here,” Q says. ”I was under the impression that you, too, would be long gone.” 

”Where’s the fun in that?” Bond counters. ”I had a feeling that if I just stayed here, something wonderful would happen. And here we are.” 

Q blinks, then frowns. ”You wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with the heat breaking down, would you?”

”Me, Quartermaster?” Bond repeats, perfectly innocent. Too innocent, Q thinks, and glares at the man. 

”You, Bond. Though I must admit, I’ve no idea how you knew that I’d come here instead of just going home.” 

”Well,” Bond says, slow and thoughtful, ”even the most perfect plans are dependent on luck. And luck is what I always have.” 

Q rolls his eyes, but he cannot deny being amused.

”And I know you, Q,” Bond adds. ”You’re a curious person, not unlike a cat. I’ve not been dropping all those hints about the jacuzzi for nothing, after all.”

Q feels like he ought to get annoyed at being played like this by Bond of all people, but he finds that cannot find it in himself to do so. Not right now at least, when the water’s warm and Bond right next to him is an even warmer, comfortable weight against his side. He’s not trying anything, he’s just there, looking at Q, his gaze not drifting below Q’s neck, and waiting for his response. 

So Q sighs and leans over the side of the tub to put his tea mug away. When he turns back to Bond, he is ready. 

”Bond?” 

”Yes, Q?” 

”Are you going to kiss me or not?”

Bond grins and leans in close. ”I thought you’d never ask,” he murmurs and covers Q’s lips with his in a kiss that is the perfect blend of gentle and passionate. 

Q’s never dreamed of being kissed in a jacuzzi, but now that it’s a reality, he can only wonder why ever not, as the feeling of the jets surrounding their bodies when Bond’s lips work their magic on Q’s is absolutely wonderful.

Eventually, lack of air forces them to pull away from the kiss. Bond smiles at him, gentle and soft, and pulls him onto his lap. Q has no qualms about that, not even when one of Bond’s arms finds its way around his waist and he brings the other up to run his fingers through Q’s hair. 

When the arm around his waist moves down to lightly cup one of his buttocks, though, then Q raises his head from Bond’s shoulder to look him straight in the eye. 

”I am _not_ having sex with you in a jacuzzi,” Q states firmly.

”I never expected you to,” Bond assures him, smiling. ”I have a perfectly good, big bed for that waiting for us at home. And I promise to keep you warm until I can get you there.” 

With a promise like that, what can Q do but say yes? 

And if he swears to himself that he’ll make Bond keep his word even after the man has gotten him into his bed, what of it? Bond’ll find out when Q refuses to move away from his warmth even after the sex is finished.

And if he’s smart, he’ll make sure that Q never has the need to go and find his warmth elsewhere.


End file.
